Grandma Kephart's Cook Books

I was looking through my cook books this morning and became a little bit nostalgic. I have 4 generations of cook books in my kitchen, and some recipes that go back even farther than that. So, I thought I'd highlight a few of those for this week's Tuesday Treasures post. 

These are just three of the cookbooks that originally belonged to my maternal great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart. She was born in Vandalia, Missouri on May 13, 1888; she died in Wellston, Oklahoma on April 7, 1976. These cookbooks were passed down to her daughter, my grandmother, Della Maxine (Kephart) Hammersmith, who then passed them to my mother, Carolyne (Kephart) Gould. My mom gave them to me many moons ago, and they're always in my kitchen. And every once in awhile I like to pull some out and see what looks good to make. But the history in these cookbooks is also really cool, so I thought it'd be fun to share them here.

Nana's Recipe Box

If you look at it, it really doesn't look that special. I mean, it's a wooden box. How could this simple little wooden box be a treasure? 

Well, that's simple: this was my maternal grandmother's recipe box. And not only is it filled with all of my grandmothers--and some of my great grandmother's--recipes, but it was also handmade by my grandfather. This is the recipe box of Della Maxine (Kephart) Hammersmith, made by William Robert Hammersmith. And I'm happy to share it as part of Tuesday Treasures. 

Grandma Kephart's Tin Box

I think it's time for another addition to my Tuesday Treasures feature here at Ancestry Chick. I wasn't sure what family heirloom I should pick this week, but I finally settled on this simple little tin box that belonged to my maternal great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart.

My mom gave me this little tin candy box a few years before she passed away. She had gotten into the habit of bringing me family things when she would come and visit from Texas. She always told me she had some new goodies for me, and she gave them to me because she knew how much these kinds of things mean to me. Mom and I both spent many years doing genealogy, and also just treasuring family things that had sentimental value. So, anytime she would bring me something, I was more than thrilled to get it.

John Arthur Kephart - Photo Gallery

My latest addition to my Tuesday Treasures is something that arrived in the mail today and I was thrilled to receive it. It is a photocopy of a photo that appeared in a book of some sort (still waiting to confirm which publication and its date). The photo is of Kephart's Photo Gallery from Wellston, Oklahoma, which belonged to my great grandfather, John Arthur Kephart. His business existed at the very least (based on my research) between 1908 and 1916. 

A little background is necessary here. I need to point out that I never even knew that my great grandfather was a photographer until one day a couple of years ago. I was searching through old newspapers online from Wellston, Oklahoma, and I found a wedding announcement from 1908 for John Arthur Kephart and my great grandmother, Della Mae Swinford. That announcement noted that my great grandpa had a photography business. This was just exciting to me. 

After finding that, I did some more searching and found various ads like the one below, in the Wellston News for his photography business.

Grandpa Kephart must have been a pretty good photographer, because at least one of his photos was featured in the newspaper. And the Audubon Society was also interested in one of his photos. I don't think that photo was ever published though; I did a lot of research and some correspondence with the Audubon Society and was not able to locate any photo taken by him. It is nice to know they were interested though!

A little more digging and I discovered (still, a couple of years ago) that Grandpa Kephart had one photo studio, and then tore it down in 1916 and built another one in its place. Apparently the first one was his residence as well at that time.

 

The part that is awesome to me, well at least one thing anyway, is that my mom did genealogy too, and she never mentioned that Grandpa Kephart had been a photographer. So to find all of this information in the past couple of years, and now the photo of his business is bittersweet--because she is no longer here for me to share it with her. She would have loved all of this, because she loved her grandparents so very much!

I must add that the photo was found for me thanks to a wonderful worker, named Carol, at the Lincoln County Historical Society in Chandler, Oklahoma. She was looking for something else for me and just happened to find that photo. I'm so very glad she did! I am always digging for more information on my great grandparents, and with any luck I'll find more in the future.

For now, I'll just end this with a photo of John Arthur Kephart. So you can see what my great grandpa looked like.

Grandpa Testorff Treasured Photo

Recently, my father and stepmom sent me some old family Bibles, photos, and other family items. I treasure all of these things so much, but one photograph in the bunch is particularly special. It is an old photograph of my grandfather, Leonard Freemont Testorff, and one of his sisters, Nina Geraldine Testorff. It is perfect for this week's Tuesday Treasures spot.

The photo is a large oval and not in the greatest shape. I considered hanging it as it is but it is so fragile I worry about doing that. So I decided to take a photograph of the original photo and do some digital restoration of it. This is the result.

I'm not a professional photo restorer by any means. I do a lot of digital art and editing though so I did my best to restore this photo into something I could print and hang up. That way I can keep the original, fragile photo safe and sound. I don't think this turned out too bad. :)

Grandma Kephart's Teapot

For this week's Tuesday Treasure I want to share a picture of a sweet little teapot, which is really only big enough for about one cup of tea. This belonged to my great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart.

My mom brought this to me, along with several other special things that had belonged to Grandma Kephart, a few years before Mom passed away. And of course it's something I treasure. Mom said that Grandma did use this teapot to make herself tea. I love that blue flower on the brown background, and the scrolls and swirls of green leaves. And I love even more that I can imagine Grandma Kephart fixing herself a nice hot cup of tea with it.

I've often seen similar teapots to this at antique stores and such. Most of them time they are bigger than this one. I don't know if it's even valuable...but it's priceless to me, and I'd never sell it. There's a note tucked inside of it, stating who it's original owner was, so that my daughter will know after I'm gone. I've started doing that with a lot of family heirlooms and other special things around the house. If no one but me knows their story, then once I'm gone the stories will be gone too. So I'm hoping that by adding notes or labels to everything that's important, my daughter and grandkids will know where these things came from. 

After all, preserving the family legacy and history is the goal. 

The Marlboro Playing Cards

It might seem like a strange thing to have a set of Marlboro Playing Cards featured as one of my Tuesday Treasures. But this is no ordinary set of cards. This is the set of cards that belonged to my maternal grandfather, William Hammersmith, whom I affectionately called, Pappy--or Paps, for short. 

Often when I'd visit my grandparents, Nana and Pappy, I'd play with those Marlboro Playing Cards that belonged to Pappy. I might play Solitaire, or sometimes sometimes we'd play Go Fish or Crazy Eights. You know, back in the day when you couldn't play card games on your phone. He had lots of playing cards, but I always liked these and I'm not even sure why. After Pappy died in 1994, I got to keep these playing cards. So as silly as it might seem, they are indeed something that I treasure. 

The photo of him above is one he sent to me a year or two before he passed away. It's the last photo that he ever sent to me. Incidentally, I also have the shirt that he is wearing in this photo, and I treasure it as well. 

I sure miss Pappy. He was the best grandfather, always smiling and always cracking a joke and making me laugh. Nana showed me how to give him a "Wet Willie" when I was quite young. I did that for years and he never got upset--he'd just laugh. Oh how I miss that laugh. But if I try really, really hard...I can almost hear it.

Love you, Paps. 

NAIH ♥

Pappy's Cuckoo Clock

I was thinking about what I should share this week for part of my Tuesday Treasures feature here on the blog. I wasn't sure what to choose as I was walking through my kitchen thinking about it, and I ended up stopping right in front of my grandfather's cuckoo clock. I'd say that was a pretty good sign as to which family heirloom I should feature. 

I called my grandfather, William Hammersmith, Pappy (or Paps for short). And for as far back as I can remember, Nana (my grandma) and Pappy always had this cuckoo clock hanging in their house. Pappy was in the Navy, so I am guessing that it was a treasure he picked up somewhere during that time. I'm sure he told me at some point where it came from. I need to check with my uncle about its origin, as he may know. Right here this minute though, I can't recall the story. What I do recall is how he'd wind the click each day and that at various times throughout the day, that little cuckoo would come out to let us know what time it was.

After Pappy died in 1994, my mom inherited the clock. And it hung in her house until she passed away in 2012, at which time it came home with me. I still have the weighted chains for it that get pulled to keep it wound (whatever they're called), though I never use them. Honestly, at this point in my life the cuckoo would drive me a little crazy. Funny how I loved to hear that cuckoo as a kid. :)  But I love the clock itself--the carved birds and leaves are so pretty. It's hanging in my kitchen and will likely stay there until I pass away. And it does my heart good just to look at it each day as I walk through the kitchen. It's a simple reminder that once upon a time, this clock was cuckooing in my grandparents' house...when we were all together as a family. And if I really try, I can still hear it.

Grandma Kepharts Frying Pan

For this week's Tuesday Treasures feature I'm spotlighting a simple little speckled enamel frying pan. It's not much to look at really, but it is something I truly treasure.

This little frying pan belonged to my great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart. Grandma Kephart was born in 1888 and died in 1976. She is the only great grandmother I ever knew--although my only memories of her are from phone calls and letters. I wasn't yet ten years old when she passed away, and I don't recall ever meeting her in person. So if I did I was much too young to remember. But she did write letters and send cards, and she did call from time to time too. I still have a bracelet that she made for me out of old buttons in my jewelry box. Perhaps I'll share that another time. 

This pan though, it's special. I inherited it after my grandmother, Della Maxine (Kephart) Hammersmith died in 1989. She was my 'Nana,' and I had grown up with her, so there was a special bond there. Nana was also the first person in my close family that I had ever lost, so that was a tough loss on many levels. I'd never really known grief until Nana died. I was 22 when I lost her, and looking through all of her belongings seemed so odd. My mom and my grandfather, Pappy, urged me to take some things to remember Nana by. That was a difficult thing to do for lots of reasons. But one of the things I did take was this little frying pan that I'd seen on Nana's stove many times. My mom told me that it had belonged to my Grandma Kephart, and that she used to fry eggs in it. It was her egg-frying pan, and my mom knew that because she was incredibly close to Grandma Kephart, so she'd seen her use that pan even as a little girl. That made it a perfect choice, a special keepsake that my great grandmother used, and so did my Nana.

This little speckled enamel pan has been sitting on my stove ever since Nana died in 1989. I use it as a spoon rest. I don't even know exactly how old it is, but it's got to be at least 60+ years. I think it's holding up very well for its age. To other people who look at it, they likely just see an old pan. But I see a timeless and priceless treasure that has belonged to two other generations of women on my mom's side of the family. And that's kind of wonderful.

Alanson Hayes Family Bible

For my first Tuesday Treasure post I thought it would be perfect to share with you one of my favorite family heirlooms: The Alanson Hayes Family Bible.

 Type: Family Bible
Title: A Hayes Family Bible
Periodical: The Holy Bible, containing The Old and New Testaments
Publication: B. Waugh and T. Mason for the Methodist Episcopal Church

at the Conference Office, 200 Mulberry Street, New York, 1834

 This Bible belonged to my 4th great grandparents, Alanson Hayes, Sr. and Rhoda (Slater) Hayes. Alanson was born in Granby, Connecticut on 17 April 1781. Rhoda was born on 23 May 1788 in Guilford, Vermont. They were married 13 August 1801 (per the Bible) in Guilford, Vermont.

This Bible was preserved by the Kephart and Hayes families and gifted to Carolyne (Kephart) Gould in 2002 by Don Drozdenko, also a descendent of Ormand Kephart (who was son-in-law of Alanson). At Christmas, 2003, this Bible was placed in my keeping, as the daughter of Carolyne Gould.

The Hayes Family Bible contained a few little treasures, including a short piece of material marking the Book of Isaiah, Chapters 34, 35 and 36. There was also a piece of roughly-torn paper marking the Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 27 to 29. A folded snowflake was near the front of the book, made from old advertising.

Hidden within a piece of muslin was a small (about 1-1/2 by 2 inches) photograph. On the back is written the words "View from Chimney Rock." A friend of my mom's from North Carolina says the photo was taken from Chimney Rock, NC, viewing a river that no longer exists due to construction of a dam. In the distance is a mountain that is said to be the home of the "Little People."

The Bible also contained the Quarterly Meeting ticket for Alanson Hayes from the Methodist Episcopal Church. This ticket could have belonged to either Alanson Hayes Sr or Jr. Ormand Kephart's name appears on the back of this ticket, so it's possible that the Bible was passed down to Alanson's daughter, Ann Amanda, my 3rd great grandmother, wife of Ormand.

There was also a newspaper clipping of a poem, apparently a reprint from "The Ohio Farmer" that was found. And just today I was looking at the Bible again and another poem tucked in the Book of St. John Chapter VI, and a Sacred Song clipping in the Book of II Samuel.

When I stop and think about the fact that I have a Bible that is 182 years old--and that it belonged to my 4th great grandparents, it amazes me. It has definitely seen better days and it's quite delicate, so I have only handled it a few times since my mother gave it to me. It is truly a treasure to me. I think the only thing that would make it more precious to me is if I had a photo of Alanson and Rhoda Hayes to go along with it. Maybe one day. Even without the photo though this is one heirloom I will continue to treasure until my last breath.

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